IGMH cardio services face disruption over unpaid $5m
The transition committee on Monday raised concerns that the National Cardiac Centre may have to be closed down.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
The president-elect's office on Monday expressed concern that the foreign company that runs the heart and neurology centre at the government's main hospital, Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), may stop providing services due to unpaid USD 5.3 million.
At a press conference held by the president-elect's office in M. Dhimyath, spokesperson Mohamed Firzul Abdulla Haleel shared the findings of the transition committees' efforts so far to monitor the health sector.
Referring to the information provided by the transitional committee, Firzul said the committee had identified serious concerns from the meetings held with senior officials of the IGMH. As such, he said:
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Some of the special centres at the hospital are run in collaboration with various foreign hospitals and companies
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There are fears that the neurological centre and the heart centre will stop providing services
Firzul said the reason is:
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The foreign company that provides services to the two centres has outstanding bills of USD 5.3 million
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These bills include expenses related to various medical equipment provided by the company
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In addition to stents and balloons for the treatment of heart disease, which is the most popular treatment, the cost of various items for the angiogram test, which is done to examine the heart vessels, is also included
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As the costs of these items have not been paid, the Interim Committee has expressed concern that the provision of these items may be discontinued
“We are very concerned that the services of these centers will be interrupted due to the non-payment of these bills,” Firzul said.
Another issue that the transition committee noted regarding the IGMH was the budget constraints. He said the budget for the rest of the year is only enough to cover the salaries of the staff.
Due to lack of funds in the budget, many activities related to repairs and machinery have come to a halt, he said.
Neither the government nor the IGMH have yet commented on these concerns. The transition committee on Monday raised concerns that the National Cardiac Centre may have to be closed down.
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